Eoin Ó Broin cautioned journalists at a press briefing on Sinn Féin’s novel affordable housing strategy in Dublin, deeming it risky. However, his warning didn’t echo the Government’s position that his party posed a threat to national interests. Given a PowerPoint and a captive audience to discuss housing, Ó Broin remarked he could ramble indefinitely.
Sinn Féin’s housing representative had been explicitly instructed by the party’s leader, Mary Lou McDonald, to limit his presentation to 10 minutes. Although it slightly exceeded to 12 minutes, this was minimal in illustrating the extreme significance of housing to Sinn Féin’s political agenda.
Four years back, Sinn Féin chalked up a remarkable victory in the general elections, largely credited to its targeted critique of the Government’s housing policy. The party enjoyed popularity primarily during the Coalition’s initial term. However, despite ongoing voter distress concerning the housing crisis, the connection of these issues with the party’s popularity seems disrupted, possibly disconnected altogether.
McDonald affirmed on Thursday their unyielding focus on housing. She’s unquestionably correct: Housing has been Sinn Féin’s consistent priority, even as public and media shifted towards immigration, a subject that has caused intrinsic discomfort within the party, leading to a division. As part of a strategic revival subsequent to disappointing local and European election results, Sinn Féin was public last week with its new stance on immigration. Nevertheless, Sinn Féin desires housing to be their main point of interest.
The party promises a significant policy set to be revealed at this September’s start, with a noticeable section launching this Thursday. This policy suggests an idea of making 50,000 affordable homes available for lease or purchase. These homes would be made available through a public housing fund established via the State’s large-scale procurement or provision of land.
The proposal, which would necessitate around €13.2 billion in funding over a time period of five years, expects around €6.9 billion from the public treasury. Under the scheme, the costliest affordable home for qualified buyers would round to about €300,000. Renters under the scheme would face no expense over €1,000; both classes, however, would face upper income restrictions. REgarding the €300,000 estimate, the Government views it as a misleading promise (Fine Gael maintains a counter on its website calculating the days since this ‘public deceit’ came from Sinn Féin) while Sinn Féin considers it as underlining its central point that the government’s deliberate policy excludes voters from owning homes and promotes availability of alternate options.
Goodbody Stockbrokers’ Dermot O’Leary, also a member of the Housing Commission, explains that this method introduces a unique approach to enhancing home ownership. “Essentially, it serves as a subsidy to boost homeownership, contrasting the current shared equity scheme endorsed by the Government. The equity in this policy is effectively the land itself. However, he forewarns that securing mortgage finance within this plan may prove challenging as the land’s security would remain state-owned, complicating the mortgage lending process”, he says.
One catch is that the State would continue to possess the land under these affordable homes and certain conditions would apply to an onward sale or rent. Specifically, these homes could only be sold to another buyer of the same affordable scheme, not on the fully-open market, or rented as a social housing element and not through private tenancy. This novel approach is unique in an Irish context. It’s unclear whether it would conflict with ingrained Irish notions about land ownership, or if individuals would be content merely occupying an affordable home. However, this discussion is envisaged to dominate the public agenda in the forthcoming weeks and months.
Indeed, the ruling parties seized upon it eagerly. Fine Gael unveiled an agitated statement, asserting that under Sinn Féin’s plans, the prohibition of homeownership was imminent. A comment was released by the Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien from Fianna Fáil, criticising the document as “terribly inadequately” and devoid of “any particular detail,” further aggravated by a “total inability to address fundamental questions,” thereby calling such a scheme “discriminatory” and “established on shifting sands”.
Ó Broin is confident that there is a sufficient window to win over undecided voters as well as those who abstained from the local elections. “As soon as people delve into the nuances of our proposition, and when they have the opportunity to converse with us directly, we trust that we can recover our lost ground and persuade them that if what they desire is a transformation in the housing sector, no other option remains,” he added. For Sinn Féin, this represents a pivotal moment for its political agenda, contingent on this sentiment being validated.